Sectional case.



' ,No.758 ,506. Y PATENTED APR. 26, 19-04.

0. 0. BUICE. SEGTIONAL GASE.

- APPLIOATIOK IILED'IEB. 6 1903. H0 MODEL. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- HHII" 115INVENTOI? W BY ' 1 A TTOHNE YS.

' PATBNTED APR.26,1904.

0. 0. BUIGB. I SEO'IIONAL CASE. APPLIOATION FILED FEB. 6. 1903.

\N\ :T\\ w w m bk u R \MVW m -.w. QM W Q m w\\ M s r\ m bfi N K R 1 Q IWITNESSES:

Patented April 26, 1904.

ORRAL' ORVAL BUICE, OF MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA.

SECTIONAL CASE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 758,506, dated April26, 1904.

Application filed February 6, 1903.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ORRAL ORVAL BUICE, a citizen of the United States,and a resident of Montgomery, in the county of Montgomery and State ofAlabama, have invented a new and Improved Sectional Case, of which thefollowing is a full, clear, and exact description.

The object of the invention is to provide a new and improved sectionalcase designed for use as a bookcase, show-case, or like article andwhich permits of secure interlocking of the units and convenientmanipulation of the door to move the same into a closed or open positionand when in an open position to be completely out of theway of the userof the case.

The invention consists of novel features and parts and combinations ofthe same, as will be more fully described hereinafter and then pointedout in the claims.

A practical embodiment of the invention is represented in theaccompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in whichsimilar characters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all theviews.

Figure 1 is a perspective View of the improvement. Fig. 2 is an enlargedtransverse section of the same on the line 2 2 of Fig. 3.

Fig. '3 is a sectional rear side elevation of the same on the line 3 3of Fig. 2. Fig. 4. is a perspective view of one of the rails or bracketsfor uniting the sides of a unit with the shelf thereof and forinterlocking one unit with another; and Fig. 5 is an enlarged plan viewof part of a unit, parts being in section.

The improvement, as illustrated in the drawings, is applied on asectional bookcase having a plurality of case units A, a'base unit B,and a top unit O, and each of the units A consists, essentially, of abottom shelf A, sides A and A a back A, and a door A adapted to closethe front end. of the unit and arranged to be swung upward and pushedrearward in the upper portion of the unit above the books or otherarticles contained in the unit and immediately below the shelf A of thenext unit above, as plainly shown in the lower portions of Figs. 2 and3. The units are interlocked with each other by the use of transverserails- D, preferably made of metal and each having Serial No. 142,222.(No'modeL) a vertical member D and a horizontal member D secured byscrews or like fastening devices E to the under side of the unit side Aor A and by screws E to the shelf A, as plainly indicated in Fig. 3. Theupper portion of the vertical member D extends in a groove formed in theunder side of the unit side A or A and the lower portion of the saidrail member D extends a distance below the bottom of the shelf A and isadapted to fit into a grooveformed on the top of the side A or A of theunit next below.

The inner faces of the unit sides A and A are rabbeted both on top andbottom up to the vertical members D to form recesses for the sides ofthe shelf to fit in, so that an extremely strong connection is hadbetween the shelf and the sides and between one unit and the nextfollowing unit.

The inner faces of. the vertical members D are provided at the frontwith inwardly-extending rests or lugs. D for supporting the frontportion of the shelf at the side thereof, the top of the rest D beingpreferably of ogee shape to receive the correspondingly-shaped frontportion of the shelf A. The forward portion of the horizontal member Dis widened, as at D, in an inward direction to be flush with the innerface of the lug D and to fit the thickness of the corresponding side onwhich it is to be used. The rear end of the vertical member D of a railis provided with an inwardly-extending flange 'D adapted to abut againstthe outer faces of the backs A (see Fig. 2) of both the unit on whichthe rail is secured and that of the unit next below.

Now from the foregoing it will be seen that the rails D connect theshelf A with the sides A and A of a unit and at the same time theprojecting lower portions of the vertical members of the said railsengage grooves in the sides A and A of the next unit below, so as tosecure interlocking of the units with each other.

The sides of each of the units A are formed at their inner faces withguideways F, extending horizontally between the top of the sides forengagement by pivots G, preferably in the form of friction-rollersjournaled on-brackets G, secured to the sides of the door A near the topthereof, as plainly shown in Figs. 2 and 3. Now when the door A is in aclosed position then the pivots G are in the front ends of the guidewaysF to support the door in a vertical position, the door then resting withits rear face on vertical strips H, secured to the inner faces of thesides A and A near the front thereof.

Directly above the upper ends of the strips H are journaledfriction-rollers I for the door A to rest on when moved into an openposition, as indicated in the lower portions of Figs. 2 and 3.

Now when the door is in a closed position and it is desired to open thesame then the operator swings the door A outward, the door then turningon its pivots G in the front ends of the guideways F, and when the doorhas been moved into a horizontal position the operator pushes itbackward, so that the pivots G slide in the guideways F and the rearface of the door travels on the top of the friction-rollers 1 until thepivots G reach the rear ends of the guideways F. It will be seen thatthe door is now supported by .the pivots G and the friction-rollers I,as indicated in the lower portions of Figs. 2 and 3. In order to preventthe pivots Gr from binding in the guideways F, the rear face of the doorA at the upper corners is provided with friction-rollers J, adapted totravel on the inner faces of the guideways F, and friction-rollers K arejournaled in recesses in the inner faces of the sides A and A near thetop thereof, for the side edges ofthe door to travel on when moving thelatter horizontally inward or outward into a closed or open position.

\Vhen it is desired to close the door, the operator simply draws thedoor outward in a horizontal direction until the pivots Gr reach theforward ends of the guideways F, and

. then the operator swings the door downward until its inner face restsagainst the strips H.

The front ends of the guideways Fare preferably open at the top, so asto allow of readily disconnecting the door A from its unit by liftingthe door at the time it is in a closed position. (See Fig. 2.) 7

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secureby Letters Patent 1. A bookcase or the like having a section whose upperand lower side edges are rabbeted to receive the side edges of thebottom or shelf, each of the said side edges of the section beingprovided with a groove, and rails,

each comprising a vertical member secured to a side edge of the bottomor shelf and projecting above and below the same, and a horizontalmember secured to the lower edge of a side of the section, as set forth.

2. A bookcase or the like having a section whose upper and lower edgesare rabbeted to receive the side edges of the bottom or shelf, each ofthe said side edges of the section being provided with a groove, andrails, each comprising a vertical member secured to a side edge of thebottom or shelf and projecting above and below the same, and a hori-Zontal member secured to the lower edge of a side of the section, oneend of the rail being flattened and the other end provided with aninwardly-extending flange, as set forth.

3. A book-case or like article having a unit provided with transverserails for uniting the sides with the shelf of the unit, each rail havinga vertical member secured to the shelf projecting beyond the top andbottom faces of the shelf, for the upper projecting portion to engagegrooves in the sides of the unit, and for the lower projecting portionto engage grooves in the sides of the next unit, a horizontal memberextending integrally outward from the said vertical member, to engageportions of the bottoms of the sides, an inwardly-extending flange atthe rear end of the rail, abutting against the back of the unit and thatof the next following unit, and an integral rest on the inner face ofthe rail and at the front end thereof, for engagement by the shelf, asset forth.

4. A bookcase or the like, comprising a plurality of sections arrangedone upon the other and having their upper and lower side edges rabbetedand grooved or recessed, each section being provided with side rails,each rail having a vertical member secured to the bottom of the sectionand projecting above and below the same and entering the recesses orgrooves of the side edges of adjacent sections, and a horizontal memberextending between adjacent edges of the sections and secured to one ofsaid edges, as set forth.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

ORRAL ORVAL BUICE.

Witnesses:

A. J OSYHUA J ONES, T. J. REYNOLDS.

